*HELP pls!* Cassette confusion

[porkupine]

Hi All,

Been previously advised that 11-28 would be the max you could stretch out your chain on a cassette for 11 speed Ultegra 6800.. but they DO sell 11-32. Also been advised that you would need a Long Cage Rear Mech for this to work properly- but how would we know whether the rear mech is short medium or long if it was an oem part as part of a grouppo? perhaps short ? also- how would this affect the chain / cranks / shifting

any thoughts please? - and yes i did sorta read sheldon brown etc but they get terribly technical i get lost

Thanks!

[Bunged Knee]

You haven`t searched it properly. You need GS for 32t cassette. And your chain for 28t will not fit the 32t as it will need a new chain and more links than the 28t one.

http://www.this link is broken/shimano-ultegra ... erailleur/

[Duck!]

also- how would this affect the chain / cranks / shifting

You need a longer chain due to the greater wrap of the longer cage. Nothing else is affected.

[KGB]

There should be a model number or part code that you can use to determine what length cage you have.

[Duck!]

The model number on the derailleur doesn't go into the cage length. While it's not universal across the industry, it's becoming fairly common for manufacturers to fit a GS (medium cage) derailleur to their "endurance" road bikes because they're generally fitted with compact cranks & a wider-range cassette.

Short cages are around 55mm between jockey wheel centres (may vary slightly between models), medium cages are around 75mm. Long cages are the exclusive domain of MTB derailleurs (due to triple rings and wide cassettes); these are 95mm between jockey wheel centres.

[Xplora]

^^ Cheers Duck. Always thought it was a bit dumb to have "medium" cages for enormous gears. Good explanation.

[Duck!]

"Medium" cage is a relatively new term; in road context they were formerly known as "long" because there have only been the two lengths used, and MTB was always seen as a stand-alone thing. However in more recent times, MTB drivelines are no longer exclusively using triple ring cranks, with 2x & even 1x becoming increasingly common. The reduction in gear range up front means shorter derailleur cages can be used, with what was once the only length now being "long", and the new shorter variants logically called "medium" and "short". These just happen to be similar in length to the two road cages, so now longer road ones are now called medium...... Incidentally, the codes used to identify them in any sales & packing material are SS for short cage, GS for medium and SGS for long. You'll never see this stamped anywhere on the derailleur itself though; the part number is stamped on the upper body of the derailleur, and this is the same for any cage length within any given model.

[rodneycc]

Hey Duck (or anyone), what does the GS stand for?

[Duck!]

Dunno.

[rodneycc]

Stumped Duck - First time for everything!

[fat and old]

Hey Duck (or anyone), what does the GS stand for?

Get Spinning

[Duck!]

Therefore the SGS for long cage must mean Seriously, Get Spinning!